


Mistakes and Second Chances

by Drialusain



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Possible Character Death, Self-Indulgent, Sorry Not Sorry, if i write it, original character joining the Mighty Nein
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:20:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25135300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drialusain/pseuds/Drialusain
Summary: Amelia Cloudstream is a young Half-Elf living on the outskirts of Trostenwald. One day she finds herself mixed up with an odd group of people and can't bring herself to leave them. Can these people help ease the burden that curves her shoulders and give her the second chance she doesn't feel she deserves?A set of one-shots describing different events the Mighty Nein go through from my OC Amelia's POV.
Kudos: 6





	Mistakes and Second Chances

**Author's Note:**

> Episode 1: Curious Beginnings

Amelia hoisted the burlap sack further onto her shoulder breathing a sigh as the Nestled Nook came into view. The long walk into town was exhausting and she was ready to fill her belly with some food. She stepped into the dimmer interior of the tavern. She’s greeted with some familiar faces that she nods to as she heads to her usual place at the bar. A ruckus suddenly grows near the center of the tavern and Amelia turns curiously.

There, spread across two tables, is an odd bunch of people she hasn’t seen before. Merchants and other traders occasionally came through the town but these people held themselves differently. Two teiflings were playing some card game while the rest looked on, a very large woman was drinking a tank of ale that Adelaine set in front of her. The barmaid looked over to Amelia and she raised her hand in greeting. As she rushed over to Amelia a half-orc and dark skinned woman looked up from the table towards her.

“Ah, Amelia! Morning honey, same as usual?” Adelaine asked as Amelia swung the sack off her shoulder onto the floor, taking a seat on a stool.

“Yes please Adelaine. Who were those people you were just serving?” Amelia said as she ducked around the bar to get her food.

“No idea, think they’re just passing through. The purple Teifling and big brute of a woman are with the circus in town.” The barmaid slid her a plate of eggs, grits, and bacon with some toast. It was probably prepared beforehand given the speed she produces it. Amelia handed her the appropriate coin, humming thoughtfully as she watched the group.

Amelia was about half way through her meal when the Teifling and large woman stood from the table. They make a few stops to different tables, handing out flyers before coming up to Amelia.

“Well, you look like a weary traveler in need of some fun.” The purple Teifling smiled as he produced a piece of paper. “Mollymauk of The Fletching and Moondrop Traveling Carnival of Curiosities. My friend you might never get this opportunity again, come see things you have only seen in your wildest dreams. Only five copper to get you in the door.”

“Interesting,” Amelia muttered as she looked over the flyer. In her periphery she saw this Mollymauk toss a wink over his shoulder to the woman, who gave a small smile in return. She gave him a smirk as she replied, “if I’m able to sell my pelts for enough money I will surely come by.”

“We would love to have you, hope to see you then.” Mollymauk sauntered out of the tavern with the woman in tow.

\---------

Amelia had finished her breakfast and was catching up with Adelaine as she sipped from her waterskin when a sudden crash rang out. All the windows of the tavern slammed open and everyone went still. Amelia whipped around to who she could only assume was the caster. The group at the center tables was looking around nervously as the half-orc furiously whispered to the blue-skinned Teifling. A look of realization and sheepishness crossed over her face as the windows slammed shut once more.

The Teifling quiet “ta-da” reached Amelia’s pointed ears before the volume returned. She stomped down the urge to snort. Grabbing her burlap sack from the floor she stood up from her place at the bar. The dark-skinned woman was clapping and provided the perfect distraction for Amelia to slip into a chair at a nearby table. 

The only person to possibly notice her seat change was the human man. His eyes narrowed at her suspiciously so she gave him a slight smile and inclined her head. From her seat Amelia watched as a beautiful orange cat jumped into the lap of the woman, meowing sweetly. With her new placement Amelia could now hear their conversations.

“Hey, Buddy! Look at this kitty, I think he likes me.” The woman gasped, turning to the man as she petted the cat. So the cat belonged to the man who’s eyes were still trained on Amelia. 

“Ja, right now he likes you.” She paused her drinking from her waterskin. He had an accent similar to her's, was he Zemnian? The man was by far the most interesting to her of this group. The poorly hidden goblin a close second. 

“Is this a real cat? Or a fake cat?” The woman said, oblivious to Amelia’s presence. 

“What do you mean a fake cat?” He turned, expression incredulous. For the first time since Amelia sat down the man’s soul piercing blue eyes moved away from her. She breathed a sigh as their conversation continued.

There was apparently several magic users within this group. From what she could gather the Teifling’s name was Jester. The human man was a wizard of some sort named Caleb. When this Jester and a smaller cloaked figure started playing a card game Amelia couldn’t help but snort a little. These people were very... interesting and unique. She watched quietly from her table as they played. These people weren’t so bad, maybe her instincts had been wrong.

The whine of a sword being unsheathed met her ears and Amelia immediately tensed. The cloaked goblin pulled a shortsword and nimbly dodged out of the dark-skinned woman’s grab for them. They pointed it at Jester.

"You're cheating! Somehow you're cheating!" The man, Caleb, started to attempt to calm down the small person as everyone looked around nervously. For as loud as they were, they didn't seem to like attention. With the figure, Nott, calmed and the shortsword sheathed a call for another trost went up.

Amelia did the math and pulled out the necessary coin. She stood from her table, finally approaching the odd group. As Adelaine set down the tankards Amelia pressed the coins into her hand. The group regarded her with a mixed amount of suspicion and curiosity.

"I'll pay for their drinks Adelaine." She smiled at the barmaid who gave her a odd look but nodded. With that she turned to the group, her eyes locking with Caleb. “Hello, my name is Amelia Cloudstream.” The group returned with polite greetings and introductions, giving Amelia the names she didn’t have. She saw Caleb stiffen as he processed that they had the same accent. The goblin tried to give her a fake name but she corrected them, much to their bafflement.

“You’ve been watching us since you came in. Why?” The dark-skinned woman, Beau she had introduced herself as, said crossing her arms. She was wearing blue sashes that Amelia felt were familiar somehow. She shrugged.

“You’re a curious bunch and I have never seen you before. Might I ask what your business in town is?” Beau’s eyebrow quirked up as she regarded her.

“Some of us were helping the locals out with some problems they were facing.” The half-orc, Fjord, spoke this time, all polite and amiable. Amelia immediately liked him.

“And we’re going to the circus in town!” Jester blurted out, bouncing in her seat. Amelia gave a mock gasp.

“So was I!” She chuckled lightly, “honestly, this town doesn’t get much excitement. Perhaps I will see you all there.” Jester beamed at her but the rest of the group didn’t look so enthused. “Well, that being that I do have some business to do before then so,” she turned and scooped up her sack by her abandoned seat. Facing them again she put on a sweet smile. “ _Tschüss_ , I hope to see you again.” With a sweep of her emerald cloak she left the Nestled Nook.

—————

Amelia does end up selling her various animal pelts for enough money. Wandering through town after restoring most of her supplies, towards sunset she heard a distant fiddle. Heading that way she found a parade of people walking through the main street. She felt a happiness bubble up inside her that she hadn’t felt for a while. Scanning the crowd she found the group from the tavern quite easily and slowly moved to trail behind them. The mud smeared Caleb Widogast was at the back of the group, she slowly sidled up next to him.

“Hello again.” She said softly, hoping to not startle him too bad. If she did scare him he didn’t show it. His gaze simply flicked over to her briefly.

“Hello.”

“…. You’re Zemnian ja?” That caused him to actually look at her. She actually wasn’t sure what he was looking for as he examined her. She suddenly felt extremely conscious of the scars along her cheek. She tilted her head causing a braid to fall and cover the claw marks.

"Ja, so are you?" He watched her carefully. Oh, She was going to have to be vigilant of herself around him. One misstep and he could probably figure her out in a heartbeat. Wizards were smart for a reason.

"No, not exactly..." She replied delicately eyes trained on the back of Jester in front of her. She expected him to question her further but he didn’t. 

"Molly, Molly! Hey, Molly!" Amelia was saved from the rising tension by Beau flagging down the purple Teifling from earlier. He sauntered up to the group a wide smile on his face.

"Oh, it's my favorites. Hello." His red gaze swept over Amelia. "Ah you're here too! Wonderful!" She dipped her head.

"Wouldn't miss this once in a lifetime opportunity."

"I'm so glad you all came. It's going to be such a great show." As he spoke Jester turned around and smiled at her. Amelia found that her smile back wasn't hard to put on.

"So, where are the best seats?" Beau asked and Molly thought for a moment.

"Well, I'm partial to the front. That way you're right in it if something goes wrong, nothing between you and whatever bloody mess happens. It's just the best." Molly lips curled into a smirk as Beau shook her head confused.

"...What?" Some of the group chuckled nervously as the wariness rippled through the group.

"Nothing, nothing. You're fine." Molly reassured the now guarded group. Amelia shook her head to herself. He was obviously just trying to scare them. The pale-skinned woman beside Molly had a small smile tugging at her lips.

"It's going to be great but... before you go in I do have to give you guys a pat down. Because you can't go in with any weapons." That had Amelia clutching to the bowstring of her bow that crossed her body. She wasn't able to catch the others' reactions as a Half-Elven man walked up to their group. He was lanky in a similar way to Amelia but had much longer ashy brown hair than her. He wore a showy outfit similar to some of the circus performers, so a worker then.

"You two, skip ahead. We need to start setting up, looks like a lot of folks here excited to come here. So," he pointed to the woman then Mollymauk. "At the door, interior to set up... Actually, you know what. You'll be on card duty, we need a little extra coin."

"Card duty it is." Molly said as both wandered off to their tasks. The man turned and addressed the majority of the crowd, which was getting decently large now.

"All right folks, excited for your patronage. Enjoy the night air. Walk slowly please, we need but a moment to set up." He bowed and started to make his way to the large tent. The group slowly started to shuffle towards that direction falling into the line that had already began at the flaps of the tent.

On one side of the door was a Half-Orc with a well-groomed mustache and on the other was the pale-skinned woman that Amelia still hadn't heard the name of. They were indeed checking people for weapons and taking the five copper entry fee. Amelia ran her fingers up and down her bowstring. Mollymauk was sitting near the entrance with a handful of cards splayed around him, a man sat in front of him. Molly seemed to be some sort of fortune teller as he read the cards for the man. Though it honestly seemed like he was giving advice more than anything. The man walked away, happy that his cough might be getting better.

"I thought you said no sick people." Beau commented, raising an eyebrow.

"This is outside the tent." Molly snarked back at her, gesturing around. Beau just nods.

"Fair." Molly smiled and turned back to his cards. Meanwhile, Jester is speaking with the pale woman.

"Here's the thing. Some of us have weapons that we don't really want to give up so... how likely is it that we can get through without, doing that?"

"Well, you can't see the show if you have a weapon on you."

"Right, and we really want to see the show. But we're like really good at security and we're really strong so we could help if something were to happen. So maybe you could not take our weapons and we could help." At that point Amelia had stopped listening to the conversation. Though she didn't particularly want to give up her bow, she wouldn't go to that great of lengths to keep it. It wasn't like anything was going to happen. It was just a circus. She stepped over to Mollymauk. The lavender Teifling looked up from shuffling his cards, red eyes crinkling as he smiled.

"How much for you to read my fortune?" Amelia said, taking out her small coin purse.

"Two copper." Plucking two copper out she set it in his outstretched hand. Sitting down in front of Mollymauk he started to shuffle his deck. "I don't believe I got your name last we met."

"Ah, my name is Amelia Cloudstream." As she spoke his eyes scanned her, taking her in. Molly's eyes darted to the scars on her cheek, disappearing into the collar of her shirt. Her shoulders sagged slightly as she sat before him and she had a look that she expected him to reveal some great secret about her. Lastly, he noticed a simple silver wedding band sat innocently on her ring finger. This woman obviously needed some hope in her life.

"Well, Amelia I sure hope you enjoy yourself while you're here," Molly held out the fanned out deck. "Choose three cards..." Amelia chose the cards and with Molly's instruction, laid them face down between them. After a pause he turned over the first card. 

"The Tower, you have suffered a great tragedy. This tragedy has caused much change in your life that you must overcome. Do not be afraid of this change though, you just need to adjust your views to accommodate it." He flipped the next one. "The Horse, strength can be found from all around you. Remember that it is okay to rely on other people and it can even make things easier." He turned the last card.

"The Star, you have passed through your hardship. Trust your strength and have courage, they will carry you to your happiness." Molly leaned back as Amelia studied the cards, subconsciously memorizing them. She nodded slowly.

"Okay," she whispered. She stood up, hand tangling in the fox pelt. "Thank you." She said shifting back over to the group. Amelia tuned back into the conversation of the similarities of the mustached Half-Orc, Bo, and Beau's names.

"Anyways, if you're going in... We really need to get through these other people." Bo said gesturing to the growing line behind the party. "So, are you going in?" He held out his hand. Slowly, weapons were handed to Yasha (Jester said her name) and with Beau's staff handed over, she turned to Amelia. Running her hand along the curved wood of her bow she sighed deeply.

"Please be careful with them, they mean a lot." 

“I promise they will be perfectly safe.” She gave over her two shortswords, Night and Echo first. Then she slung her quiver off and handed it to her, arrows clattering together. Amelia carefully removed her bow from her person, fingers gliding over the etchings as Memory left her hands. Her stomach tightened but she breathed and stomped down the rising fear. She dropped five copper into Bo's hand and waited for the others. Nott and Fjord were a tad more hesitant to give up their weapons but in the end no one walked out over giving up their weapons.

"Okay if you want to follow me, I'll take you to your seats and I'll stand beside you the whole time." Yasha said turning towards the tent flaps.

"Lead the way." Fjord grumbled, sheath for his falchion empty. Yasha seemed to remember something as she walked up to Beau. She picked her up and threw her over her shoulder.

"Since you can't walk." She said simply before leading the group into the tent.


End file.
